Justice Committee begins post-legislative scrutiny of the FOIA

The House of Commons Justice Committee’s first hearing on the post-legislative scrutiny of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 took place on 21 February. Maurice Frankel, Director for Campaign for Freedom of Information, told the Committee that in his view, the objectives of FOI are realistic and we are on our way to meeting them. However, he stressed that the time delay sometimes involved in receiving a response to a FOI request is still a problem. Frankel suggested statutory time limits for internal reviews, and more intervention from the Information Commissioner’s Office.